


The Dangers of Going Back

by parttimefemmefatale (writingramblr)



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Episode Fix-It: s04e17-18 The End of Time, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Crack, I Don't Even Know, Matchmaker TARDIS, One Shot, but i wanted something fluffyish, rose is stubbornly cheerful, this is so unrealistic, very introspective too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-20
Updated: 2014-04-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 02:03:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1492663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writingramblr/pseuds/parttimefemmefatale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Tenth Doctor goes back to say farewell to Rose Tyler on New Years eve, but when things go horribly wrong, and she sees him fall, and ends up taking him to the TARDIS, how can he keep from causing a time paradox?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Dangers of Going Back

**Author's Note:**

> there's no big reason for this story other than the fact i hated watching ten regenerate alone. I mean, he's still sort of alone here, but then he's got the major problem of Rose having seen him and the TARDIS...  
> and this is all i plan to write too. i'm horrible.  
> it's also written in half present tense and half past. i'm really messed up i know.

It’s agony to wait.

Seeing Rose again, seeing her happy and innocent and carefree, and chatting and joking with Jackie.

It’s almost as painful as the radiation eating its way through his very DNA.

But when she turns away from Jackie, and begins walking past him, he’s not sure if its accidental or on purpose that he slips up, and his control ebbs, a searing flash of pain climbs up his back, and he groans aloud.

Rose whips around and spots him.

“You alright mate?”

She asks in such a kind way. His Rose, always kind and gentle to those in need of comfort. He never dreamt he would be the one on the other end of that kindness and care.

“Yeah.” He manages to reply.

“Had a bit too much to drink?”

There it is. His out. His excuse.

“Something like that.” The arm he’s leaning on against the brick wall starts to feel numb, and he’s grimacing in pain, hoping she can’t see him too well. If she does, and she remembers, all is lost. It’s all over then.

“Well happy new year then.”

He barely nods,

“Thanks.”

She’s leaving now. Walking away from him again.

The words stick in his throat.

_‘I love you.’_

He can’t stop himself.

“What year is this?”

Rose spins around and laughs, a beautiful sound he’s not realized just how much he’s missed, until that moment.

“Blimey! How much have you had?”

The Doctor shrugs, still praying he’s in the shadows enough,

“Not enough.”

“It’s January first, 2005.”

He’s nodding now, and suddenly saying the only thing he can think of. It’s nowhere near as poetic as he could have originally planned, but it’s something.

“I bet you’re gonna have a great year.”

Rose grins at him, somehow bewildered by his strange actions and yet endearing way with words. Or perhaps he’s just becoming delirious from the pain and the effort it’s taking not to spontaneously combust into radiation energy right there in the snow.

“See ya.”

She’s gone then.

Walking away, but not without some sort of hope for tomorrow.

That’s more than he’s got to look forward to. Now if he could just take a few steps and reach the TARDIS in time.

In time.

That’s what it always comes back to.

But no.

Rose turns back to look at him with her hand on the door, and she sees him, a stranger, collapse onto the snow covered road, and before he can protest, she’s yelling,

“Are you alright?”

Then she’s at his side, helping him to his feet, and he’s shaking his head so hard,

“Please. Go. Get away. I’m fine.”

It’s the only time he’s ever lied to her. It’s the first lie. The first real one.

Because he knows what’s coming. He knows what she’ll do.

He can still see everything.

He’d told her before.

All that was, all that is, all that ever could be.

She got a taste of that, with the Time Vortex, and the TARDIS’s help.

But he’s not willing to re-write their time together. Not for one selfish moment.

However, the strength in his legs says differently.

He can’t find any words to protest as she helps him start walking. It’s a strange sort of dance, where she’s leading, but he knows where he needs to go. So in the end, he’s leading, but she’s dancing for them both.

She halts in front of the TARDIS, naturally confused, and he wordlessly gestures to the door. He knows he can’t find the key in time, much less hand it to her, so when the door creaks inwardly, he can only blink.

Rose pulls him inside, not paying a single bit of attention to the interior. No. Her eyes are fixed on him.

He’s gasping in pain and suddenly all he can see is bright light. The TARDIS is flashing her lights and the faint sound of the cloister bell can be heard.

Rose finally looks around and before she can say anything, he’s pushing her away with his last bit of strength.

“Get out of here, now!”

Her eyes are wide, and she’s not even looking at him anymore.

“It’s incredible.”

“Yes, yes it is. And she’s missed you just as much apparently. But it’s time for you to go Rose. Please.”

She gasps, and is now looking at him like she did just after his previous self turned into the slowly dying one.

“You know my name? How do you know my name? Who are you?”

The Doctor braces himself on the console, and if Rose won’t listen to him, he’s going to get away from her. As far as he possibly can.

“I’m dangerous. I’m a madman.”

She shakes her head, and simply starts to smile again. Damn her optimism.

“You’re a little drunk. You must have overheard my mum. I think you should probably lie down.”

She’d convince him the world wasn’t ending even as the rubble collected around them, he was sure of it.

The lights are now coming from his hands, his very being, and suddenly she notices.

“You’re glowing!”

The Doctor manages a grim smile, and nods,

“It’s starting. If you won’t leave, you need to at least get out of this room. Follow that corridor.”

Rose has taken a couple steps back, _finally_ , he thinks, and then she’s doing as he asked.

Why has it taken her this long?

She’s out of his sight, and finally he can relax.

Relax, in as much as let the pain take over.

The radiation sings through his veins, but his regeneration has begun, and it chases away every single drop of poison.

Golden light floods the console room, and then it strengthens, intensifying like a supernova.

It’s all gone a bit wrong, for the power is much too much.

Holes are punched through the front door windows, and coral struts begin to fall and crumble. The metal mesh surrounding the console is burning hot, and the Doctor thanks his beautiful ship for not shaking about, and throwing him to the floor.

When it ends, and the light dies down, he can finally breathe again. He brings a hand to his face, and is glad to find it’s relatively normal. His other hand slips down to his leg, and he smiles, still human, mostly.

The hair has gotten thinner, but there’s still loads of it. His ears are normal, and here he had been, half afraid that seeing Rose would have made him regress to his ninth incarnation, or at least some of it.

ROSE!

He needed to find her, get her off the TARDIS, and get as far away from Earth as possible.

Too late, much too late, he noticed that the TARDIS was already in flight. He must have switched on automatic drift when he was trying to fight off Rose.

He hears a strangled scream, and knows it’s her.

Footsteps, running fast towards him.

He turns around just in time to catch her before she topples him over.

“Whoa there.”

Rose looks at him with wide eyes, but not from fear.

“Who are you?”

It might be entirely ridiculous, but he waves.

“Hello. I’m the Doctor. Doctor Smith. It seems I need to get you home.”

Rose frowns at him, and he’s suddenly distracted by how her brows converge on her forehead, his fingers, lots of them, are itching to smooth the creases there,

“Where’s the other bloke? The one who seemed a bit out of sorts?”

The Doctor winced, and the fingers stopped wiggling about, and finally touched her forehead,

“Rose Tyler, now is not the time. I need you to forget.”

She gasps under his hands, and her eyes slide shut.

It’s lucky his hands are so quick, for he barely catches her before she faints and smacks her head on the jump seat.

“Oof. There you go.”

He sets her down gently on the metal grating, now cooled back down, and realizes just how much trouble he’s in.

The TARDIS is in a state of chaos, and he’s put infinite timelines in danger.

“Crashing. Oh I love it when I’m crashing.”

He mumbles to himself, sarcasm evident to his lovely ship, who’s seeming to ignore him, no matter what buttons he pushes, or knobs he twists.

He gives the console a good solid kick, and earns himself a sore foot.

But it does the trick. The engines resume and then they’re hurtling towards earth at a relatively safe speed.

Safe?

No.

Unsafe.

He shouldn’t have kicked her.

He kneels down and takes Rose’s hand, and that’s all that matters now. Getting her home safely.

*******

**END**


End file.
